The
Community Renewal Initiative is designed to assist distressed communities
designated as Renewal Communities and Empowerment Zones with real
opportunities for growth and revitalization.
Each
Renewal Community (RC) has a Coordinating Responsible Authority
(CoRA) responsible for coordinating development within the RC. The
CoRA may be an entity, organization, person or persons and is authorized
by the government(s) that nominated the RC for designation. The
CoRA is the RC's central point of contact and takes on the responsibility
and authority to implement the RC's tax incentive utilization plan
(TIUP). Every RC submitted its TIUP to HUD in 2002, during the first
year of designation, and the TIUP outlines how the RC will take
specific actions to maximize the use of the tax incentives made
available to the designated area. These tax incentives include employment
credits, work opportunity tax credits, commercial revitalization
deductions, increased Section 179 deductions, and 0 percent capital
gains provisions on the sale of RC assets.
The
TIUP outlines also how the RC will implement its Course of Action
to help develop the designated area. The Course of Action, which the
RCs submitted with their 2001 applications, is a written document,
signed by a State or local government and neighborhood organizations,
that demonstrates a partnership between such State or government and
community-based organizations and which commits each signatory to
specific and measurable goals, actions, and timetables. As indicted
in the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000, these Courses of
Action include at least 4 of the following:
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A reduction of tax rates or fees applying within the RC;
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An increase in the level of efficiency of local services within
the RC;
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Crime reduction strategies, such as crime prevention (including
the provision of crime prevention services by nongovernmental
entities);
-
Actions to reduce, remove, simplify, or streamline governmental
requirements applying within the RC;
-
Involvement in the program by private entities, organizations,
neighborhood organizations, and community groups, particularly
those in the renewal community, including a commitment from such
private entities to provide jobs and job training for, and technical,
financial, or other assistance to, employers, employees, and residents
from the RC; and
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The gift (or sale at below fair market value) of surplus real
property (such as land, homes, and commercial or industrial structures)
in the renewal community to neighborhood organizations, community
development corporations, or private companies.
As
part of the RC application process, each RC provided a signed certification
to HUD also indicating that local partners would work together to
satisfy certain economic growth promotion requirements during the
designation period. Representatives of the state and local governments
with authority over the nominated area certified in writing that they
have repealed or reduced, will not enforce, or will reduce within
the RC at least 4 of the following:
-
Licensing requirements for occupations that do not ordinarily
require a professional degree;
-
Zoning restrictions on home-based businesses that do not create
a public nuisance;
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Permit requirements for street vendors who do not create a public
nuisance;
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Zoning or other restrictions that impede the formation of schools
or child care centers; and
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Franchises or other restrictions on competition for businesses
providing public services, including taxicabs, jitneys, cable
television, or trash hauling.
The
framework for the Empowerment Zone Initiative is embodied in four
key principles:
-
Strategic Vision for Change
-
Community-based Partnerships
-
Economic Opportunity
-
Sustainable Community Development
Strategic
Vision for Change
The
Strategic Vision for Change identifies what a community will become
in the future and a statement of the values in the community used
to create its "vision". The Strategic Visions that EZ
applicants included in their strategic plans identify realistic
goals and a strategy for achieving these goals. The vision should
also define a performance measurement system that will provide the
framework for measuring progress and evaluating and adjusting the
Strategic Plan for a given EZ.
A
vision for change describes what the community wants to become.
A community may envision itself, for example, as a center for emerging
technologies or for innovative methods of educating residents using
information technology in partnerships with a nearby university
or community college. A community may envision itself as a key export
center for certain farm products or customized manufacturing goods;
as a health care center; or as a vibrant residential area focused
around an active local school, with access to jobs, retail markets,
recreation and entertainment.
A
vision for change is not a laundry list of concerns, shortcomings
and deficits. Instead, it is a strategic map for revitalization.
It builds on assets and coordinates a response to the needs of a
community, such as public safety, human and social services, and
environmental protection. It takes into account linkages to the
larger region and how information technology can facilitate achievement
of the strategic vision.
In
pursuing its strategic vision, each EZ applicant created a plan that:
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States a clear vision and goals for the future;
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Explains how the vision creates economic opportunity, encourages
self-sufficiency, and promotes sustainable community development;
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Builds on the assets and opportunities available and presents
a coordinated strategy toward solving them; and
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Sets outs performance standards for measuring progress, and a
framework for evaluating and making future adjustments to the
Strategic Plan.
Community Based Partnerships
The
Community-Based Partnerships principle encourages all stakeholders
in a community to participate in the revitalization of distressed
neighborhoods. Partnerships include residents, businesses, local
political leaders, local, state and Federal governments, community
development corporations, local public health and social service
departments, regional planning organizations, unions, environmental
groups, schools and universities, faith-based organizations, and
other community groups.
Communities
that stand together are communities that can rise together. Communities
cannot succeed with public resources alone. The EZ Initiative is
grounded in the belief that each community knows how best to solve
its problems, and that residents, businesses, government, and non-profits
must all work as partners to revitalize distressed neighborhoods.
The Federal tax credits and grant funds provided to EZs are designed
to help get revitalization efforts in motion, but partners in local
communities, along with the assets they bring to the table, must
work with the community to achieve sustainable results.
Resident
participation in planning and decision-making in the EZs is another
key component of Community-Based Partnerships. Successful and sustained
revitalization in these areas starts with residents. Residents of
the EZs must be involved in identifying the Strategic Vision for
Change, developing specific goals, and crafting solutions. Residents
must also play an active role in implementing and monitoring their
plan for revitalization through governance structures that provide
them with a real voice in decision-making. Each EZ is responsible
for designing its own governance structure, which typically is a
board composed of local decision makers chosen from a cross-section
of the stakeholders in each community. Boards should not be so large
as to be unwieldy in operation, yet they must permit an opportunity
for all key stakeholders to participate. Some communities established
a non-profit to implement their Strategic Plans and they used the
non-profit's Board of Directors as the governance mechanism for
the Zone. Others created stand-alone advisory boards to guide local
officials during implementation.
Economic Opportunity
Economic
Opportunity includes creating jobs within the designated EZ communities
and linking residents to jobs throughout the region; providing entrepreneurs
with technical assistance; providing greater access to capital and
credit for businesses so they can expand and create job opportunities
for residents; and providing residents with access to job training
and job placement services, including those associated with the
Welfare-to-Work initiative.
The
first priority in revitalizing distressed communities is to create
jobs for residents. The creation of jobs, both within the community
and throughout the region, provides the foundation on which residents
can become economically self-sufficient.
Communities
should work with local businesses to understand their employment
needs and to develop programs that match residents with real job
opportunities. They should also develop programs to increase the
flow of capital and credit to businesses so they can expand and
create new high-wage jobs. Programs have included small business
assistance centers, community development banks, micro-enterprise
credit programs, and loan pools.
An
EZ designee should understand:
-
The existing economic base of the area including those sectors
that will most likely provide job opportunities for residents;
-
The credit and capital needs of business and the type of labor
skills they need;
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The skill levels of residents and the kinds of programs that could
upgrade those job skills;
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The barriers to employment such as child care, transportation,
drug treatment, low job skills, etc., and how those barriers may
be overcome;
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How the changing metropolitan, regional, national and global economic
conditions, including military base closure and out-migration,
affect the economic base; and
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How to bring jobs to the workforce and how to get people to job
opportunities by improving transportation infrastructure.
Sustainable
Community Development
Sustainable
Community Development advances the creation of livable and vibrant
communities through comprehensive approaches that coordinate economic,
physical, environmental, community and human development. These
approaches should preserve the environment and historic landmarks,
address "brownfields" clean-up and redevelopment, explore
the economic development advantages of energy efficiency and the
use of renewable energy resources, and improve the quality of and/or
access to health care and human services, education, child care,
affordable housing, transportation and public safety.
While
job creation is a critical first step toward the creation of livable
and vibrant communities, the ability to sustain that positive momentum
depends upon a coordinated and comprehensive strategy that creates
an environment where human initiative, work and stable families
can flourish. A community where the streets are safe, the air and
water are clean, housing is affordable and secure, and human services
are accessible, and where a vital civic spirit is nurtured by innovated
design, is a community that can be a source of strength and hope
for its residents. Sustainable Community Development promotes a
holistic approach to revitalization through the coordination of
economic, physical, environmental, community and human resources.
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